January 2016 – Month in review

February 20, 2016ianesenior Leave a comment

January 2016 – Nike+ Summary

My Nike + Summary shows 121 miles. There was no cycling or swimming this month. Not sure why but probably because of travel, weather and general fatigue and no races I took it rather easy. Still, managed to knock out 121 miles.

We had just returned from our Florida trip when I had to fly out to Arizona. I think the drive time from Florida to Pennsylvania and the transcontinental flying finally caught up with me combined with the change in temperatures (winter finally arrived) sending me to my basement treadmill for my runs.

I think the major ‘funk factor’ in this was the fact that this was the first Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend I have missed since 2012. I had to live vicariously through all my friends and fellow Mickey Milers team mates Facebook and Twitter posts. I was itching to be there so bad this year but the logistics of home life, work travel and also costs just made it an impossibility this year. Sad, but there will be other times. I’m focusing on my first half ironman triathlon distance this year so really cutting back on racing and focusing on the training plan…boring…but hopefully fruitful come July 🙂

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Trying my best to not feel left out…with my 2015 Half Marathon shirt and my extremely overpriced 2013 Marathon coffee cup

With the weather forcing me indoors I actually have the opportunity to try transitioning to Altra Zero Drop shoes. I would have liked to try this previously but there is a 3-6 week adpating period where you wear the shoes progressively more and more each run but switch back to your regular shoes mid-run. Generally when I am running outdoors I am not looking to carry a spare pair of shoes everywhere with me. Indoors at least I can put the shoes next to the treadmill and easily switch mid-run. We shall see how this goes. I am trying to transition from my Brooks Adrenaline GTS shoe with a 12mm drop (from heel to toe) to the Altra Provision shoe with a 0mm drop. It will take time I’m sure and I will probably have a few strange aches and pains during transition. We shall see how this works out. So far I’ve managed to get up to 6 miles. A way to go if I’m going to be into these shoes before the New Jersey Marathon on May 1st. The key is to getting to the start line injury free. If it isn’t working out I’ll be running in the Adrenalines.

So, as I’m saying that I will be registering for less races, I did manage to sign up for 2 first time races for me this year. The first is the Philadelphia Phillies 5K race at Citizens Bank Park on March 26. I figure a 5K during the marathon training will be a good time to see how my speed is going. Not sure it will be a fast 5K given the nature of the race but I will see nearer the date. Also, I signed up for the Princeton Half Marathon in early November. My wife ran this race last year and I was really jealous of her ‘squirrel’ medal so it’s my turn this year! It’s in November after my triathlon season so I can get away with my previous comment about running less and concentrating on the triathlon 🙂

One day the squirrel will be mine…

Oh, I almost forgot, I registered again for the Rutgers UNITE Half Marathon. It fits nicely into my training plan and it was a nice race for me last year.

My wife and I registered for the lottery for the New York Marathon. We will find out if we get in together in early March. I figure if either one of us gets in we should run it regardless of whether the other does or doesn’t. It is such a big race and the lottery is just that…a lottery. Who knows if we will get selected. It’s a big race but it’s definitely a bucket list one. I figure it’s a one and done type of race because of the size of the field and the logisitics of the weekend just sound a bit too much for me. I’m sure it will be fun and I am hoping that we both get in. I’ll let you know 🙂

Both my wife and I are in training for the New Jersey Marathon on May 1st. The weather has driven us both to the treadmill unfortunately. Looking forward to getting out whenever we can but making sure to be sensible and safe. No point in running in the cold and icy conditions if we don’t really have to. Better to be safe inside. The conditions in May will not be replicated in January that’s for sure.

We had the first big snow of the year…and it was big. On top of my long run that day (11 miles on the treadmill) I was outside shoveling snow for over 4 hours. Quite a workout but I prefer swimming and biking as my cross training!!!

My youngest in the snow. Reminiscent of Hoth...

My youngest in the snow. Reminiscent of the planet Hoth…I think he is looking for his tauntaun.

I hit another personal milestone this month as I made it past the 8,000 mile mark since I started recording my workouts back in September 2010.

I’d been running about 5-6 weeks using a ‘Couch to 5K’ program before I started logging my activities so this is pretty much from the beginning. So now I’m onto the next milestone. In that time I’ve completed 19 half marathons and 14 full marathons and countless other events. I’m feeling pretty proud of how far I’ve come. I think this is also going to be a big year for me and January was a good start to 2016’s adventures.

December 2015 – Month and Year in review

January 23, 2016ianesenior Leave a comment

December is over and a new year has begun. Time to take a look back at the month, the year and look forward to what 2016 has in store.

December 2015 – Nike+ Summary

For the month of December I ran 128 miles, swam 1.3 miles and cycled 39 miles. This is nothing compared to the 1,150 each way journey I embarked on from my home to visit my parents in Florida. Interesting journey…just pleased (and relieved) that my 9 and 5 year old passengers were awesome the whole way down.

2015 – Nike+ Summary

All in all for the year I ran less but still racked up mileage by introducing swimming and biking as I started my triathlon career. A total of 1,964 miles for the year. 1,576 running, 366 cycling and 22 swimming. No wonder I am so tired.

Our ride to Florida. The kids were in the back, not on top (as tempting as it may seem).

See…they’re in the back. This is outside a Dunkin’ Donuts at 5am. #roadtrip

After two days of travel we were glad to reach our destination

Before I revisit the year I’ll take a quick look back for the month of December.

With such a mild December I was able to still run outside for the most part, even when I visited Atlanta, GA for business (although it was cooler there than I had expected). It was just a matter of avoiding the rain. More often than not I was outside. When I got to Florida, the weather was glorious. Very hot and humid so that slowed my pace a little but I was fortunate to have my parents look after our boys so that my wife and I could get out almost everyday for mid to long runs. It worked out great.

Nice to have a chance to run together

While we were down in Florida we signed up for a the local Bradenton Running Club’s Annual Manatee River 5 Mile Run. We even signed the boys up for the kids races. It was a hot day and not much shade but it was a good day to be out there. I also met up with my fellow Mickey Miler team-mate Robert.

Ready to run

Running family

Discussing race strategy

With a fellow Mickey Miler and a junior one

Reward for his 200 meter run

Making it look easy in the 400 meters

Beautiful location at the Emerson Point Nature Reserve in Palmetto, Florida

Beautiful location at the Emerson Point Nature Preserve in Palmetto, Florida

Being out-sprinted by my wife

Determination

A great end to a fun year. Lots of family time and a great chance to get out and run a lot. We did eat a lot of ice cream on vacation so the running was badly needed!!

2015 – Looking Back

It was a very busy year. My wife and I ran 3 marathons together and I ran 4 in total. This included us running for Autism Speaks while we ran the Goofy Challenge at Walt Disney World back in January. We ran the Pittsburgh Marathon together in May and the Marine Corps Marathon together in October. I ran the Philadelphia Marathon in November as well as a few half marathons during the year. Happy to be able to compete and even better for being able to run with my wife for most of these events.

In May I ran my first unofficial ‘ultra-marathon‘ (any run longer than 26.2 miles is considered an ‘ultra’) for the charity ‘Give Kids The World‘. I ran 39.3 miles in one day (the equivalent of the Goofy Challenge – a half marathon followed by a full marathon but all in one day). This charity is supported my my running team, the Mickey Milers and through this event I was able to raise $1,250 for this cause.

This was also the year I ventured into triathlons. I attempted (weather shortened) my first triathlon back at the New Jersey State Triathlon back in July. I was able to finally complete my goal of a sprint triathlon at Medford Lakes, NJ and then added a final sprint event before the end of my triathlon season in Hightstown, NJ so I could concentrate on my Fall marathon schedule.

It was a year of accomplishments for me and I’m grateful I was able to complete these events and remain relatively injury free.

2016 – Looking Forward

While my running schedule isn’t set for the full year, I am signed up for a couple of big events. First, my wife and I are signed up to run the New Jersey Marathon on May 1st. I’ve run this event twice before and this is still my marathon PR race. We also entered ourselves for the New York City Marathon in November. We will not find out about whether we get in until March so I’m looking at other races in the Fall just in case although I haven’t committed to any yet. Of course, I will be signing up for the Philadelphia Marathon as long as I am around that time of year.

The big event for me this year is that I will be participating in my very first Half Iron distance triathlon (70.3 miles) in Kingston NY in July. This is quite a step up from the sprint triathlons I did in 2015. I hope to be in good shape and ready when the time comes. Looking forward to it very much.

My other goal this year is to work on speed (and stay injury free). I’m looking for a fairly local goal race in the Fall (maybe before New York if we get in) to see if I can get to that 3:45 marathon time goal I seek. We shall see.

Thank you for sticking with me for the last few years as I have been writing this blog. I hope that I have lots of good stories to share in 2016 (and beyond).

Wishing you all success in all your endeavors this year. Happy New Year.

September 2015 – Month in review

October 18, 2015ianesenior Leave a comment

September 2015 – Nike+ Summary

Another busy month. According to my Nike app I ran 143 miles and my MapMyFitness calendar showed I had a total of 207 miles (143 miles running, 62 miles cycling and 2 miles swimming).

September – Map My Fitness

This month included the Hightstown Triathlon, my 3rd(ish) and last triathlon of the year and also the last few weeks of training for the Marine Corps Marathon so plenty of training during the month in preparation.

Fall definitely made an appearance during the month but luckily it was still fairly warm during the triathlon so I was able to enjoy the last days of summer. Our boys went back to school, my youngest is now in Kindergarten so both boys are together again at the local elementary school.

My two guys heading into school together

Also, as he has now moved up to Kindergarten, he is now at Sunday school every week vs every other week like last year. This allowed my wife and I to have 3 hours together on Sunday mornings so we were able to get some marathon training in together which was a great as we probably hadn’t had a chance to run together as a couple since the Pittsburgh Marathon back in May.

Nice opportunity to get out on the trail together

We’ve been taking the opportunity to get some of the long runs in along the Delaware Canal as it is fairly flat but very close to where we take the kids for Sunday school so we can save some time. It’s been great running there as the temperatures have cooled. We changed our route up a bit this year and crossed over the Delaware River at Washington’s Crossing so we ran both on the Pennsylvania side and the New Jersey side. Just to mix things up. On one of the times we were running together we crossed back to the PA side and saw a group of Revolutionary War re-enactors walking around Washington Crossing Park. We got a bit of a surprise when they started shooting off muskets and it didn’t really help when we ran through the park and my wife pointed out to them that I was British…thanks Babe, appreciate that.

The British are running…the British are running…

Work is ramping up again so I am back to traveling for a while and finding some time to squeeze my training in. I find fitting the swim training in a bit more difficult as I’m not close to my gym but I did manage to find an LA Fitness near the hotel in Atlanta to allow me to get a swim day in before the triathlon. My triathlon races are done for now for this year and once I am back home during the winter months I can ramp that up again with plans for next year.

So we end the month just a few weeks away from our big race of the year, the Marine Corps Marathon. My wife and I are really looking forward to running this together. We will be travelling down without the boys this time around as it is going to be a pretty quick trip. I definitely want to take them next summer to visit the museums and enjoy the sites. That will be a fun vacation. We can scope it all out as we are running along the route.

My upcoming race calendar should now be set through the end of the year (perhaps):

October 25 – Marine Corps Marathon (Washington, DC) – This will be our first time running this event.

October 31 – Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon – I ran this event on my own in 2012 and as a couple in 2013 and 2014.

November 1 – Cooper Norcross Run the Bridge (Camden, NJ) – I ran this event for the first time in 2013.

November 22 – Philadelphia Marathon – In 2011 this was my first marathon and also the first where I broke 4 hours in 2012. My wife and I ran this together in 2013.

November 26 – Bucks County Road Runners Thanksgiving 5 Miler (Langhorne, PA) – We try to run this every year (since we started running) and only missed it last year by being out of town. Here is my last recap of that race.

Looking forward to October and beyond. Thank you for reading.

August 2015 – Month in review

September 10, 2015ianesenior 1 Comment

August 2015 – Nike+ Summary

126 miles this month logged in the Nike app.

August – Map My Fitness

However 233 miles in training. 126.3 miles running, 100.4 miles of cycling, 6.3 miles of swimming. I think it’s the first month I’ve gone over 100 miles on the bike. I think I’m most proud of how far my swimming has come. This August was 5 years since I set foot in the gym. I’m slowly inching my way up to 7,500 miles since I started recording my runs. 🙂

My running has increased from prior months as I am now ramping up the training to the Marine Corps Marathon this October. I had the pleasure of running 15 miles with my wife one weekend when our boys were visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame with their grandparents. They had fun and so did we. Not a bad deal.

A highlight for me this month was completing my first triathlon at the Medford Lakes Colony Sprint Triathlon. It was lots of fun and the weather cooperated this time. I am actually having fun doing things other than just running and it feels great.

Lots to look forward to in September, October and November. I am all signed up for the Hightstown Triathlon in mid-September. In October my wife and I are running in both the Marine Corps Marathon and on Halloween the Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half Marathon. Finally in November I am running my 4th Philadelphia Marathon and my wife and I are running our annual Bucks County Road Runners Thanksgiving 5 miler. Lots of training to do between now and then.

This is the first year since 2011 that I haven’t a runDisney event on my calendar for January so I have a little break from training this December. My wife and I did sign up for a spring marathon so we will be training again through the winter months. We signed up for the New Jersey Marathon on May 1st. This will be my 3rd New Jersey Marathon (and home of my marathon PR) and my wife’s first. It’s a nice fairly local race so it’ll be fun for us. The plan is that we look for a spring and a fall marathon to run together each year. I like the sound of that.

Thanks for reading.

June 2015 – Month in review

July 16, 2015ianesenior Leave a comment

A little late but here goes my recap for my June 2015 activities. My Nike+ activity shows just under 70 miles run for the month. I may have to start moving away from sharing the monthly data from this platform going forward as it just shows running and none of the swimming and cycling I am currently doing in the run up to the New Jersey State Triathlon in July (my first triathlon). So here are my real stats (courtesy of Garmin/Map My Fitness).

June – Map My Fitness Summary

As you can see from the calendar there was quite a bit of swimming and cycling in the first half of the month. for a total of 127 miles (I don’t swim THAT far yet).

The reason the numbers look a little lower (other than focusing on the swim more) is that my family and I took a trip to the UK mid month and with a general focus on visiting my family and sightseeing with the boys we only managed to sneak in a few short runs during the trip.

Playing tourists at the Tower of London

At the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens

We took the boys to Parliament Hill in London to show them where we got engaged.

One of the highlights of the running on this trip was to take my wife on a tour of where I grew up and to visit (run by) old houses where I or my relatives lived as well as past the schools and friends houses around my old neighborhood. Good times.

The house I grew up in. They put up gates…to keep me out?

Wonderful running in the countryside near my old home.

My old school (new campus built since I left).

I also had the chance to catch up with many old friends during the visit and on one occasion a friend of mine (Michael) who had just completed the London Marathon invited us to run with him. This was great as I never would have ventured out on the route he took us. I haven’t lived in the UK for almost 14 years and not lived near where I grew up for almost 20 years so the guided tour was just what we needed. We were very fortunate that the weather was great while we were there (although I did pack a few long sleeve running shirts…just in case).

Catching up with friends while running

Not that we were limited to these occasional runs while over there, as a family we walked and walked and walked all over London. Both my 8 and 5-year-old boys kept up and didn’t complain once, even when my Fitbit told us we had walked 10 miles one of the days. A great visit back and I certainly ate more chocolate than I ever had in such a short time. Well, we had to do the Chocolate Tour of York when we were there.

Good times were had by all in attendance

We got back from what was a great trip on July 1st. I hadn’t been near a pool in 2 weeks and it showed on my first day back (although that may have been a combination of British chocolate and jet lag). Only a few weeks from the big day so lots of work still to do.

Thanks for reading.

May 2015 – Month in review

June 9, 2015ianesenior Leave a comment

May – Nike+ Summary

142 miles during May. As you look at my monthly stats you will notice that there were a lot of rest days but that’s not the whole story. It’s been a busy month.

At the beginning of May my wife and I ran the 2015 Pittsburgh Marathon. We had been looking forward to this race weekend for a long time (we had signed up last September) and we included a family trip as part of our race weekend. It was a lot of fun. The race was great and we had a good time showing the boys around my wife’s alma mater (University of Pittsburgh).

2015 Pittsburgh Marathon

After some recovery from the race and the trip I rested up a little more than normal as I undertook my first (unofficial) ultra-marathon where I ran ‘Goofy in a Day’ for the charity organization ‘Give Kids The World’. This was effectively the two days we ran at Disney rolled into one day and was the distance of the half marathon and the full marathon combined. It was a great experience and I was fortunate to have a couple of folks separately run about 12 miles with me. This definitely helped get over some of the tougher miles. My fellow Mickey Miler team-mate Tammy drove up and ran 9 miles with me which took me over the 20 mile mark and marathon distance and then a I co-opted a colleague who was running to join me and pace me for a few miles when I was into the 30s.

Goofy In A Day

I was astonished at my actual time/pace for the day. I’m not sure I would rush to undertake such a challenge again too soon but ultimately I raised $1,500 for ‘Give Kids The World’ and brought my fundraising through running total to $13,000 over the last few years for both Autism Speaks and Give Kids The World. I’m quite proud of that fact.

I am a brand ambassador INKnBURN apparel and on May 4th this year they offered a secret product that you had to sign up for sight unseen. The hint was that it was May 4th (when people celebrate Star Wars day) so I threw caution to the wind and purchased this mystery item and waited for my package to arrive. When it did it was “O.M.G!!!!!! I’m hyper(space) ventilating”. It was a full sleeve Boba Fett t-shirt!!! Although my wife thinks I said I was bald and fat…and she calls me a Trekkie. I still love her though. I also love my INKnBURN. So proud to be an ambassador.

My INKnBURN Boba Fett shirt

Now, getting back to that 142 mile image up at the top, since I started this blog I have always used the Nike+ image to start each monthly review. With the Pittsburgh Marathon over and the Goofy in a Day done I am now able to concentrate on my summer goal of completing my first triathlon (New Jersey State Triathlon). Some of my running days are now being replaced or supplemented with biking and swimming. Swimming is where I need to most work so I am trying to concentrate on that skill set the most for the time being. In regards to biking, I typically only get out during the summer months and then only at weekends. Well, we managed to rectify this situation this month by setting up a gym at home.

Both my wife and I have long commutes to and from our places of work and with the activities for the kids it is getting harder and harder to get to the gym before or after work. As both of us are training for the Marine Corps Marathon this October we are both needing to get our miles in at the same time. Typically I go out in the dark with a headlamp before dawn but I didn’t want my wife to be outside at those hours so we finally purchased a treadmill for the home (a NordicTrack Commercial 1750) so she can run inside when I run outside in the early morning hours. We also now have the flexibility to jump on the treadmill when the boys are in bed or when one of us is travelling for business and the other has to stay home with the boys.

A trip to the Home Depot was required to set up the base for each machine

The end result – our private workout space

So as I cleared out my office to make way for the new machine (we figure after 17 marathons combined it is more than a fad) I decided to also set up a bike trainer so I could get some bicycle time in during the week. So far so good. Together this has allowed me to do a couple of brick workouts (bike to treadmill) in preparation for the triathlon in July. I’m also getting to the gym early enough to get around 30 minutes of swimming in a few times a week. I’m getting there…slowly, but still I can see some improvement. So now I cannot use the Nike app alone to recap the month. I use Garmin Connect to give me the ability to record all activities so its not just 142 miles this month but 171 miles. Again, pleased with this although I’m finding muscle groups I never thought I had. I am sure my body will get used to it. I hope so!!!

Garmin Connect – May 2015

Garmin Connect – May 2015 detail

This Memorial Weekend we celebrated our 12^th wedding anniversary. We had a great family weekend together with the boys at Sesame Place and we also took them to Philadelphia for a day at the Franklin Institute and tosee the Lion King before I had to jet off again to Arizona for business.

Celebrating at Sesame Place

Enjoying the Lion King touring production in Philadelphia

While in Arizona I took advantage of the unseasonably cool (for Arizona) temperatures and enjoyed some time exploring the area through running from my resort. It was a busy week with many hours sitting on planes and in airports but looking back it was a good trip that yielded some good work.

Taking in some of the sites

Exploring new areas to run

So May was a pretty busy month by both running, racing, home and business activities but was rewarding all around.

Thank you for reading.

March 2015 – Month in review

April 20, 2015ianesenior Leave a comment

March 2015 – Nike+ Summary

So as you can see from the Nike+ summary I managed to get in 140 miles this month but if you look at the tail end of the month you will see that I actually had a week break. I’m nursing a sore back/pelvis as a result of all the snow shoveling over the winter. I managed to tweak my pelvis out of alignment. Ouch. Time to get my 8 and 4 year olds out to shovel the snow…or move to Florida. I think the move may be easier.

The weather did not deter my training for the upcoming Pittsburgh Marathon however it did take my running indoors for some of the long runs.

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My run from Sunday March 8th.

My run from Sunday March 14th.

The gym can be a lonely place on a Sunday morning in winter.

However, shortly after my indoor 20 miler I was lucky enough (well required) to take a trip to Scottsdale, Arizona for work. I went from running in sub 20 degree weather (sub zero with wind chill) to running in the low to mid 60s for a week. It was beautiful and flat. I wore shorts again!!! Yes, my legs saw the sunshine albeit at the end of the run as these were still early morning hours. What amazed me about running in Scottsdale was how clear the air was. As I was running I could smell the flowers, bushes and other landscape smells (nice smells) as I ran. I don’t think I’ve had much of a chance for that recently. Also it was flat. That helps alot. I’d been on a treadmill for more than a month so it was great to be out there.

Beautiful place to run

Citrus trees and the smells in the air were incredible

Yes….yes it was

Desert running is pretty cool

I discovered where Iron Man keeps his horses

Lots to investigate

Mind you, I got a rude awakening when I flew back to Philly. I arrived back to 4 inches of snow…ON THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!!! Ugh. My back still hasn’t recovered. Nothing like having to dig your way into your house around midnight. Luckily though that was the end of the snow. It warmed up a bit after that and I was able to run outdoors locally again.

Woo hoo!!!

During this month as I have been preparing for Pittsburgh I have been trying out some new gear. Last year at the Philadelphia Rock n Roll Half Marathon Expo I was recommended to try Injinji toe socks. They look a little weird and are a little tricky to put on but I have always had an issue with my toes rubbing together and usually use some vaseline to prevent blisters. Anyway I thought I’d give these a try and see if they were as good as they were presented.

Actually, they are pretty good. I’ve since bought a couple of pairs in various thicknesses to see how they differ but so far so good. I am using them almost exclusively right now. I cannot comment on the longetivity of the product but from a comfort perspective they seem good and from a blister prevention perspective they absolutely hit the spot. I’ve been using the Run 2.0 sock.

Injinji Run 2.0

Finally this month I’m happy to share that both my wife and I were successful in the lottery for the 40th Marine Corps Marathon later this year. We are so excited to be able to run this event and especially excited because of the special anniversary year. It is sure to be a great event and memorable to all who run.

We’re in!!!

In the coming weeks I have the Rutgers UNITE Half Marathon in Piscataway, NJ. This will be my first event since running the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend races. It will be fun to get back into race mode. Also, I’ll complete the training and start my taper for the Pittburgh Marathon. We are looking forward to the marathon weekend and hope we have enough time to take some sights in with our boys.

Don’t forget that I’m doing other crazy stuff for a change. I’m running the ‘Goofy In A Day’ for Give Kids The World a couple of weeks after that. If you feel like you can make a donation that would be really appreciated.

Thank you for reading.

2014 – Looking back and forward

January 1, 2015ianesenior Leave a comment

2014 was quite a year. The highlights included running 4 Full Marathons (including a new PR), 4 Half Marathons and running over 2,000 miles (unplanned). I completed my 10th Full Marathon in Baltimore this year (running with my Wife) and raised over $4,000 for charity (Autism Speaks).

December 2014 – Nike+ Summary

This month I ran a total of 211 miles. That is the most mileage I have ever run in one single month. It was a combination of getting my training done for the upcoming 2015 Walt Disney World Goofy Challenge, business travel (where I had a little more time to run but I ate a lot more) and the realization mid December that I was actually close to 2,000 annual miles. With all that said I added a couple of extra miles here and there and a couple of extra runs over the course of the month and finished December with 211 miles and bringing my 2014 total mileage to 2,005 miles. Not sure I will be repeating this pattern too many times but it’s quite an achievement for me.

2014 – Nike+ summary by month

There were many highlights of the year for me, starting back in January with running the inaugural Walt Disney World ‘Dopey Challenge‘. Four races in four days for a total of 48.6 miles. It was so much fun. Not sure I would rush to do it again though based upon the cost and logistics involved it ended up being a solo trip for me, however, I did make many friends that weekend and met up with lots of familiar faces too. I also attended the Mickey Miles Podcast breakfast after the 5K and was there for the launch of the Mickey Milers running team. The team raises funds for the Give Kids The World charity village in Orlando Florida. We are all over the country (and international too) but we interact regularly and meet up at races and I’ve even met up with members on business trips and on vacation. We are very identifiable by our yellow and purple team shirts and hats. It’s a great group and a great cause.

Running the 2014 Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World

Mickey Milers Running Team

Post-race with the Mickey Milers (Janee, Brittany and Joe)

My other endeavors for charity are again for Autism Speaks and as of December 31, 2014 my wife and I raised over $4,000 and will be running the 2015 Walt Disney World ‘Goofy Challenge‘ in just a few days. My goal is to make my miles mean something for more than just my fitness and raising funds for charity is a way that I can do so.

In terms of racing I achieved a PR at the New Jersey Marathon at the end of April a year after my meltdown at the same race. It was a pretty tough winter here in the north east and I did much of my training indoors at the gym. I learned to cope for multiple hours on a treadmill but it was great when spring finally arrived. Conditions on the day of the marathon were tough and windy but I achieved what I set out to do (even though it was just by a few seconds). I was happy. A few days after the marathon I had a small medical scare but thankfully all turned out for the best.

New Jersey Marathon – New PR and a pretty cool medal

My wife and I took part in a few races together this year, the Hot Chocolate 15K in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half Marathon in August and the Baltimore Marathon in October. Great fun at each race and she also achieved a PR at Baltimore. Great race, great weekend.

Philadelphia Hot Chocolate 15K

With my Wife and Father-in-law at the Rock and Roll Half

2014 Baltimore Marathon (my 10th Marathon)

I was also selected as an INKnBURN ambassador during the year and had lots of fun wearing some colorful and artistic outfits at races. I have lots of options now to run in. I have the INB shirts, my Mickey Milers team shirt and my Autism Speaks team gear for the Disney races. I think I don’t need to buy any gear for a while (this is not a New Year’s resolution so don’t hold me to that).

Another PR this year was achieved at the Bucks County Duathlon. I was unable to participate in 2013 due to a family wedding but this year I came back and beat my previous PR by 5 minutes. I had a bit of a struggle at the ‘Chasing the Unicorn’ Marathon in August but the highlight of that day was running across the finish line with my family. That made anything else unimportant and I was happier than my performance really reflected as a result.

A good day for a PR

My best ever finish.

So what does 2015 have in store to improve upon 2014? I’m not sure yet but plenty of things already lined up to look forward to.

In a few days my wife and I will be running the 2015 Goofy Challenge down at Walt Disney World. It is the 10th anniversary of that particular event and the medal looks quite cool. Most of all I’m looking forward to having my family with me at Walt Disney World this year and having a mini vacation with them. My wife and I are also signed up for the Pittsburgh Marathon in May and we are again doing a little family road trip with the boys. It should be a lot of fun. I’m also signed up for my very first ‘triathlon‘…we shall see 🙂

2015 10th Anniversary Goofy Challenge medal

Thanks for sticking with me for another year. I appreciate all your ‘likes’ and kind comments and look forward to seeing you at events and hearing on your success too. Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous 2015.

With my wife enjoying the Baltimore Marathon. Good times.

October 2014 – Month in review

November 1, 2014ianesenior Leave a comment

October 2014 – Nike+ Summary

158 miles this month.

Fall is definitely here. I have broken out the long sleeve t-shirts and the lightweight gloves for some of my early morning runs. We are about to set the clocks back so I may yet see another sunrise on my morning runs before the year is over but mostly I have been starting and finishing my morning runs in the dark.

As I end October I can look back on a marvelous time running the Baltimore Marathon with my wife and also working towards running the 2015 Walt Disney World Goofy Challenge in just over 2 months from now. I’ll figure a time to rest up eventually…

2014 Baltimore Marathon

This month I finally took the plunge (perhaps literally) and signed up for my very first triathlon. I will be participating in the 2015 New Jersey Triathlon next July. I signed up for the Olympic Distance which involves a 1,500 meter swim, a 25.5 mile ride and 10K run. I signed up with my local tri-club (Bucks County Triathlon Club) and joined the local YMCA pool so that I can get an early start with the swim training. I have 9 months to be able to compentently and comfortably swim 1,500 meters. So far I have been to the pool once per week since signing up (logging my workouts in swim.com) and I plan to step up to two times a week if I can from January and then the full training plan post Pittsburgh Marathon in May next year. I should have 12 weeks between the marathon and the triathlon which is about the right amount of time based upon the training plan I have chosen. We shall see!!

With a view towards the Disney training I am now in my back to back plan mode that I have used the last few years which is a modified Hal Higdon plan. The last couple of years I had 8 weeks between the Philadelphia Marathon and the Disney Marathon but this year I’m up to about 12 weeks. I am hoping to break out the training to roughly 2 weeks of recovery, 8 weeks of training and 2 weeks of taper so that I get to the start line both healthy and somewhat rested. There are two of us in the house training for the Goofy Challenge so I’ll be doing lots of the early shifts during my runs, even on the weekends. Hopefully when we are on vacation in November my folks can look after the boys and I can get some running time in with my wife (also somewhere warmer than home).

Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge

10th Anniversary Goofy Challenge Medal

Also this month I am pleased to tell you that my wife voluntered at a local 5K race and at the last minute, as her role was pretty much done, decided to run and actually won the race. Another trophy to add to her collection. Overall first female to go along with her age group awards. She likes to remind me of the fact that she has these awards but I’m not (that) bitter. My highlight this month was completing my 10th marathon. We both have our accomplishments and I’m as proud of her as she is of me (I hope 😉 ).

1st Place Overall Female

November is taken up with a family wedding, Thanksgiving and a family vacation. In between all of this will be lots of training as we wind the time down towards January’s marathon. Can’t wait!!!

I am still fundraising for Autism Speaks for whom I’ll be running at Walt Disney World. If you would like to support me this would be greatly appreciated. Here is the link to my personal fundraising page.

Thank you for reading.

July 2014 – Month in review

August 1, 2014ianesenior Leave a comment

July 2014 – Nike+ Summary

As I end the month of July I am just over a couple of weeks away from the ‘Chasing the Unicorn‘ Marathon. This was a month of buckling down and get my training runs in. This month I managed 194 miles as I keep up the training plan I chose this time around. In hindsight, training for an August marathon is probably not my wisest decision based upon the heat and the training plan I chose (Hal Higdon’s Intermediate 2) but there has been some cooler weather so all the runs were manageable and I’m feeling good and confident of my goal for the race.

I took part in one race this month, the In24 Midnight Madness 8 mile run. This was more of an event than a race and I ran a pretty decent time considering the time of day and how many hours I had already been up at that time. It was fun and you can read my recap here. I got to try out some new gear (Noxgear Tracer360) during this race which was fun and did draw some positive attention. I’ve subsequently run while wearing this during my early morning runs when it wasn’t part of the night run…not sure the attention was as positive…more strange looks, especially from the wildlife in the park where I run. Literally I know what ‘a deer in the headlights’ really looks like close up 🙂

Wearing my Noxgear ‘Tracer 360’

As this was a holiday month and we didn’t go away for our usual week of vacation for July 4th we have taken advantage of our weekends. I gave each of my boys a special day during the month. With my youngest we went to the Bucks County Children’s Museum and with my eldest we spent a day in Philadelphia celebrating ‘Benjamin Franklin’ and visiting all places related to the Founding Father. We also as a family spent two days in New York City. We had a great time and took the boys to the top of the Empire State Building and also to the Statue of Liberty. We also got to eat at the Peanut Butter Company Sandwich Shop. I would recommend it as a place to visit if you are ever in Greenwich Village.

Family time with ‘Thing 2’

Family time with ‘Thing 1’

Lady Liberty with Things 1 and 2

I received my Mickey Milers team jersey this month. It’s great to be a part of a running group even though everyone is spread out across the country (and beyond). I have managed to meet up and run with a couple of team members so far and we will be having a group meet up at the upcoming Philadelphia Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon in September. The team’s goal is to raise funds for the ‘Give Kids The World‘ Village in Orlando, Florida.

Mickey MIlers team shirt

Also this month I was invited to join the INKnBURN Ambassador Program. I am very excited to be a part of this team as I really like the products they make. I mentioned last month that I had wanted to try this brand for a while and when I did I really liked how they looked and performed. Now I am proud to have been chosen to ‘spread the word’. I will be doing a detailed review in the near future and will be able to share a special discount code with everyone. I’m excited to see some new products and look forward to sharing my impressions of them and wearing them in some upcoming races.

This month I am continuing to promote my two virtual runs to raise funds for Autism Speaks. If you haven’t yet checked them out please do so here. I have some great medals and great prizes which were donated from some leading running gear providers. Also I am continuing to fundraise for Team Up for Autism Speaks as my wife and I both run for their charity team for the 2015 Walt Disney World ‘Goofy Challenge’. If you would like to support me please use this link here. A big thank you in advance.

‘Going Goofy’ 5K medal

‘Secret Agent 005K’ medal

Upcoming I have the ‘Chasing the Unicorn’ marathon on August 17th and I just recently signed up for the Bucks County Duathlon on August 31st (I participated in 2011 and 2012 but missed last year due to a family wedding). A lot of things to look forward to and a goal to achieve in August.

Thank you for reading. I hope you had a good July and have a great August.

philly2goofy

…and all the miles in between

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January 2016 – Month in review

December 2015 – Month and Year in review

September 2015 – Month in review

August 2015 – Month in review

June 2015 – Month in review

May 2015 – Month in review

March 2015 – Month in review

2014 – Looking back and forward

October 2014 – Month in review

July 2014 – Month in review

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